Tell me more ×
Answers OnStartups is a question and answer site for entrepreneurs looking to start or run a new business. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 5 down vote favorite

I developed a neat but admittedly techy application/engine that could be used in conjunction with other services to enhance user satisfaction. I wrapped it up into a nice Web 2.0 app but as of now, it's just a (not too useful) novelty.

I'd like some tips on how to market highly-technical solutions to larger corporations that may be interested. I don't think something like Adwords would work in this case and I have no idea where to start.

I recently showed it to a graphic designer and asked if something like this would be useful. He said it could really aid in finding particular styles of photographs or refining text-based results. I had already planned to contact various stock-image websites and even though I've written business proposals before, I have no idea how to market something like this. (A friend suggested a freemium-style subscription service.)

Edit: To be honest, I probably misspoke when I said "big companies", I meant "any companies larger than an individual" :P -- I don't have the resources nor the time to turn this into an enterprise-level solution.

share|improve this question
Side note: I just tried you service, but it does not seems to work as advertised. Searched for simple heart shape and the result is anything but a heart. – Ross May 25 '11 at 6:28
It's a bit finicky when it comes to the color (so if it's not bright red/pink you may not have found anything) and I don't think there's a pure heart shape in the database altogether -- but here's a decent search: imageshack.us/photo/my-images/571/heartbt.png -- (you'll notice two relatively good results in the top left and bottom right) – David Titarenco May 25 '11 at 6:37
1  
It seems to narrow to me, If i have to know the exact color in advance. – Ross May 25 '11 at 7:02
This is like Google Search By Image - google.com/insidesearch/searchbyimage.html ? – David Freitas Jul 5 '11 at 7:38

3 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

Welcome!

You should do the following steps:

  1. Guess about who in the company will be the best advocate for your software. It might be the CXO, or the specialist, who's problem you are solving.
  2. FIgure out what the most exiting part of your solution will be for this person. The specialist might be interested in a nerdy system, while the CXO wants to see how this fits with the overall strategy and is interested in ROI.
  3. Call the person directly. Do this by starting to call the big, medium or maybe small companies, who are the LEAST likely to buy your solution and who are located somewhere you do not want to service. This way you will gain valuable experience in punching the idea for them (you basically have 7 seconds to make them interested).
  4. Repeat the steps above to as you learn more and approach more and more interesting companies as you feel more confident.

Btw. I would not mind a link to your product, but thanks for asking.

Edit Based on that I now know, which product you have, I do not see a reason to sell this to big companies. It would be much faster to sell it to small ones. Like Graphic Designers (as you mentioned). Big companies are horribly slow with deciding upon buying something, unless you sell it to individual employees in the big companies.

share|improve this answer
Thanks for your comment! Edited my OP. – David Titarenco May 24 '11 at 23:09
up vote 1 down vote

To sell to big companies you need enterprise software with enterprise features sets. This just doesn't qualify in its present form. However you have a very promising start for a SaaS product with a low price point and broad market. It seems that you need to partner with two kinds a of people:

  1. A UX person (perhaps the graphic designer you mentioned)
  2. A marketing person

The product is an interesting idea but it is a very long way from being a "big company" solution.

share|improve this answer
Thanks for the reply! I probably misspoke when I said "big companies", I meant "any companies larger than an individual" :P -- I don't have the resources nor the time to turn this into an enterprise-level solution. – David Titarenco May 25 '11 at 6:40
up vote 0 down vote

Find the person who has the problem that your product will solve. Don't talk about your product. DO talk about their problems. Until you understand their problem deeply. Then discuss whether a tool that does X would solve the problem and whether they would pay for it (based on the additional value it brings). If they say yes, now you can start to talk about the product.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.